Mario Ɛ Sonic: Mobian Legends
by PanikAttacc
Summary: Mario and Luigi have finally made Bowser give up his devious schemes to kidnap Princess Peach and take over the Mushroom Kingdom - but Bowser JR. is furious and wants revenge. He develops the prototype of a device to destroy Mario and Luigi once and for all.. but instead, it teleports them to another dimension.. full of.. hedgehogs? Rated T for violence. Enjoy!
1. The New Arrival

_**Introductory A/N:  
Hey guys, before the story begins, I thought I'd give you a bit of insight on the story's background, so you don't have to ask in the future.  
**_ ** _This story is quite complicated, it is the result of many years of consideration as to how to write a really good crossover story between Mario and Sonic, which satisfies all types of fans. See, I have had too much inspiration for this story to list. As it happens, my main focus was to set this story apart from the animations I was inspired by, by focusing the setting around Sonic's home-world, as opposed to Mario's. The latter of which tends to be more frequent in the GOOD animations I watch. I am a huge fan of Mario and Sonic, and I have been in love with their respective franchises since the day I discovered a game called 'Ultimate Flash Sonic,' the first online game I ever played, on the internet - when I was merely four years old. I am extremely passionate about writing, and I could go on forever about the background of this story. I just hope that I meet my younger self's expectations for a really good Mario & Sonic crossover, that is my ultimate goal here. And of course, I hope you enjoy it too!_**

* * *

 **~ THE NEW ARRIVAL ~  
**

Mario stood by Princess Peach on the balcony of her castle as fireworks erupted in every direction. Cheers and whistles of pure joy echoed from beneath them as the entirety of the Mushroom Kingdom celebrated their victory. After years of constant battling for World Peace, the feud between the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Kingdom had finally come to an end. Bowser had given up his antics and agreed never to attack the kingdom again, and never to cause any harm to Mario, Peach, or anyone else, either. Bowser had settled down with his new bride-to-be, and the peace finally came to the kingdoms. Peach and Mario had found love in one another too, as well as Luigi and Daisy, just as everyone had predicted. The tetrad were quite the couple, now that the battling for freedom was over.

However, not everything is as simple as that... while Bowser had retired from his mission, his offspring, Bowser Junior was quite infuriated by his father's impotence, and seized control of Bowser's former army, launching one last attack on the Mushroom Kingdom.

Bullet Bills everywhere, crashing down upon the homes of millions of innocent citizens, fireballs burning down the nature reserves around the border - Bowser Junior's airship was headed straight for Peach's Castle, with Bowser Junior himself standing on the head of the ship, glaring down upon his arch-nemesis.

"MARIO!" Junior roared, clenching his claws as Mario slammed a Banzai Bill away from a crowd of Toads. Luigi dove towards a cannonball, knocking it back towards the airship with his infamous hammer. The plumber brothers jumped back to the balcony, where they protected Peach from the incoming airship. Junior hopped down onto a bridge at the bottom of the airship, and stood at the very edge, hands on his hips.

"The time has come, Mario! Tonight shall be your fall! I will now complete the mission my father failed to execute, time and time again!" Junior bellowed. The Toads beneath him ceased their screaming, and listened in terror as a fleet of armed Koopas rounded them up and forced them into a confined area. Mario snarled as he leapt towards Junior, reaching out and winding up his fist for a powerful hit. Bowser Junior was ready for this, however, and smacked Mario away with a strange wand-like contraption. Mario's cap was knocked into the distance, and Mario fell to the ground. Luigi screeched and rushed down to the ground to catch him. Luckily, Luigi broke Mario's fall, but his hat was nowhere to be seen. Peach screamed as Junior summoned a large thunder cloud over Mario and Luigi's head. Junior roared with maniacal laughter as he twirled the wand in his hand.

"This is it, Mario! With you gone, I will rule over the Mushroom Kingdom, WITH OR WITHOUT THE PRINCESS!" Junior cackled, as the lightning danced within the cloud.  
"Mario, NO!" Peach cried out as Mario and Luigi stood up.

"Smell ya later, MARIO BROTHERS!" screamed Bowser Junior. Red and black lightning erupted from the cloud with a vicious thunderbolt, and it struck Mario and Luigi with the force of a thousand hammers. The two brothers shrieked in horror as they vanished from the area, leaving only smoke behind them. The cloud vanished, and Bowser Junior stood victorious over the Mushroom Kingdom. It truly was game over..

* * *

Sonic and Shadow flung themselves into Tails' base, panting and full of adrenaline. Tails turned to stare at the two in confusion, and they pointed to Tails' training room.

"Sorry we're late, buddy, but SHADOW here got into a little predicament with Knuckles!" Sonic rolled his eyes.  
"ME?! _YOU_ are the one who had the nerve to mock me and call me inferior to that so-called _guardian_!" Shadow snarled. Tails chuckled as he watched the two quarrel.  
"I'm sorry guys, but Sally went home. She was tired of waiting for you guys when you're late to her Yoga class every week," sighed Tails.  
"I only go to spend time with her!" Sonic pouted, "And Shadow goes because Amy's relaxation techniques are... disturbing."

Tails nodded, laughing, and hopped down from his stool, holding a box of equipment, "You caught me at a good time though. I wanted to show you something I just made!

Shadow frowned, "Another pointless device?"  
"Awe, come on Shadow, appreciate his hard work!" Sonic scolded, "Uh.. what is it, Tails?"  
"It's a Multidimensional Amplification Generating Navigational Experimentation Tripod," beamed Tails.  
"Multidimensional.. amplif-... generating.. what?" Sonic tilted his head.  
Tails shook his head and chuckled, "It's called the M.A.G.N.E.T, it's a three-piece device used to detect interdimensional artifacts or life-forms!"  
Sonic pretended he understood what Tails meant, and began nodding slowly. Tails hooked the device to his wrist and it curled over his hand. The three pieces latched onto his first, third and last finger, respectively. Tails showed it to Sonic, but Shadow didn't seem to be taking much interest. Technology never was his thing.  
"Interesting..!" Sonic smiled awkwardly.  
"Sonic, I know you, you have no idea what I'm talking about and you are questioning the point of this thing's existence, right?" Tails smirked. Sonic nodded faster, feeling a bit guilty - "Well, for starters, earlier today I picked up a strange energy coming from the edge of our galaxy, and now as it turns out.. I can see what it is! It seems to be some sort of one-dimensional life force, squeezed into a kind-of invisible container and surrounded by energy, I've never seen anything like it..!"

Sonic's ears perked up, he snatched the device from Tails and latched it onto his own hand, staring at the contraption. It began to light up as it reacted to a frequency coming from outside. Tails gasped and dragged the two hedgehogs outside, only to witness two silhouettes crashing down into the beach nearby. The trio stared in shock for a moment, and then rushed to the beach to investigate. They stared down at the two humans, surprised and confused.

"You don't think they're.. y'know, Eggman's, do ya?" Sonic looked at Tails.  
Shadow shook his head, "No, they look harmless."

One of the figures wore a cap, while the other was hatless. They wore matching outfits, but one had a red shirt, the other had green.

"They look familiar for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it-" began Sonic, but before he could finish, the human in the green shirt let out a petrified scream.  
"Oh, he's alive," Shadow chuckled, as the green shirt guy scrambled away from them. He was shaking, and seemingly intimidated - "See? Told you they looked harmless."

At that moment, the man in the red shirt rose up and stood parallel to the two hedgehogs and the fox. The man appeared confused, and clueless as to where he was - moments later he broke into a fit of rage and turned, screaming gibberish at the sky. Sonic and Tails looked at each other and shrugged.

"Uh, you okay dude?" asked Sonic. The man turned around and let out a deep sigh. He began explaining what was going on, and called over the other man. Tails frowned and lead the group back inside his laboratory to sit down. He gave the two men some food, and the man in red continued his story.

After a few minutes, Sonic recited the man's explanation to make sure he understood what was going on.  
"So your name is Mario, this guy here is your brother Luigi, you come from another dimension, where you finally defeated your arch-enemy, but his son attacked you and somehow he made you wind up here?" Sonic tapped his fingers on the table they sat around.

Mario nodded quickly, Shadow huffed.

"Why does your brother have a hat and you don't? Aren't your outfits like, meant to match or something?" Sonic questioned. Mario's eyes widened - he looked up at his hair and gasped, there was no hat. He groaned and slammed his head onto the table in misery.  
"Ohhh.. did Bowser Junior make you lose your hat too?" Tails asked sympathetically. Mario nodded sadly. Luigi shoved the rest of his food into his mouth, hoping that the others would not notice.

"Well, we'll help you get back home! Right guys?" Sonic stood up, happily.  
Tails jumped up in a supportive manner, "Right!" Shadow simply shrugged. While Mario thanked the trio, Luigi began exploring the laboratory, fiddling with random equipment and trying to figure out how some stuff worked.

Sonic turned to Tails, "Hey buddy, is it okay if I keep this MAGNET thingy-ma-bob with me for a while?"  
Tails paused for a moment and thought, "Well, uh.. it's still in prototype, but sure, I guess, why not?

Sonic nodded and gestured for the group to follow him. They made their way towards Park Avenue.

* * *

The Quintet made their way to a flat rented out by some of Sonic's buddies, and made their way into Sonic's room. Luigi wandered off to tamper, Shadow leant against a wall in a dark corner, and Tails sat down to fix his 'Miles Electric.' This left Mario and Sonic alone in the center of the room. Mario admired the room around him as if he'd never seen Mobian Tarpaulin. Sonic grinned and revealed that he had been holding onto a strange green gem. Mario turned to examine the gem, but remained clueless.

"You don't know what this is, do you?" Sonic asked. Mario shook his head, not taking his eyes off of the mysterious artifact.  
"This is a Chaos Emerald," Sonic continued, "one of seven gemstones withholding the power of true ultimatum. Nobody knows of their origins, only that if one can withstand the power within all seven at once, they can unlock the power of chaos - hence the name. Shadow and I are currently scavenging South Island for emeralds, as usual, because our arch-enemy Doctor 'Eggman' Robotnik has attempted to seize control over Mobius once again. Unlike last time, he's taken a more subtle approach, which only our spy forces have been able to gather details about. He's sort-of.. redeveloped this robot, which is his speciality - a doppelganger of myself, known as Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic is infamous as being my _artificial_ arch-enemy, but it seems as if he's had his greatest upgrade yet now. Eggman's collected scraps of failed projects over the years and rebuilt them altogether to create his ultimate weapon.."

Mario, at this point, was staring at Sonic - his eyes were filled with interest and suspense as Sonic paused.

"He calls it the _Mark VI_ , whatever that means. It kind-of resembles me, but also it's completely different... I dunno, I can't really explain it."  
Mario frowned as ideas of its appearance flooded his mind. Was it Sonic but made out of metal, or was it something completely different? Whatever it was, it sounded dangerous.  
"Anyway, that's why I- _we_ need to find the seven Chaos Emeralds, so we can stop Eggman and the _Mark VI_ before they get any further with taking over the world!" Sonic concluded. By now, Tails was standing next to him, smiling, and Luigi had stopped messing around so that he could listen in on the conversation as well. Shadow, of course, remained in a secluded corner. Mario and Luigi glanced at one another, flames of determination blowing in their eyes. They jumped into the air with a cheer and landed in a very intriguing pose, appearing to be gesturing something to Sonic and Tails.

"Huh, so you think that after we take down Eggman and the _Mark VI_ , you can use the Chaos Emeralds to go back home and save the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser Junior? And you'll help us beat our enemies?" Sonic's eyes lit up in sparkles. Mario and Luigi smirked and nodded enthusiastically.  
"Alright, this is awesome! We're a team now!" Sonic beamed, turning to Shadow, "Right Shad?"

Shadow merely huffed.

"Alright, I've rebooted the Miles Electric and fixed all the broken parts, we should be able to use it to locate the closest Emerald from here!" Tails revealed his innovative device. Finally, Shadow joined the group, and all five of them eyed the radar device. It seemed that there was an emerald not too far from here, located in a place called 'Emerald Hill.' Sonic and Tails smiled at one another, and then turned to the door.

"Hehe, this'll be a piece of cake. Tails and I know Emerald Hill like the backs of our hands!" Sonic laughed, leading the quintet out.  
"But we all wear gloves.." Shadow mumbled, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile, a miniaturized drone hovered just outside of Sonic's window, it seemed to be carrying a small camera, which was recording footage of everything that had just happened.

"So.. Sonic, Tails and Shadow have a new buddy.. the Super Mario Brothers, eh? Well, I suppose a few extra bones to feed to _Mark VI_ won't be too much.." a malicious voice echoed from the other side of the camera, followed by maniacal laughter.. ongoing, and terrifying.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, the quintet arrived at the border to Emerald Hill.

Without hesitation, Sonic turned to his friends behind him and chuckled, "Let's make this interesting. Try to keep up!" He then turned to dash off into the distance, but before he could, a pair of metallic boots smacked against his torso, sending him hurtling back into a large boulder. The rest of the group armed themselves with their respective weapons, and growled at the silhouette that attacked Sonic. Mario and Luigi had no idea who they were up against, Tails simply tilted his head. Shadow, however, appeared extremely on-edge. From the shadow cast over them by the silhouette, came what appeared to be another Shadow, but with yellow quill stripes instead of red.

"An android," Shadow clenched his fists. Mario and Luigi gasped, drawing their hammers from their pockets. The android chortled at the group, rushing forward to slam his boots into Shadow again.

Shadow, on the other hand, was ready for this - and teleported out of the way with just enough time to grab the android and whirl him into a hill. He then followed this up by teleporting to the android and pinning him against the wall, snarling.  
"Who sent you here? Why are you following us?!" He bellowed. The android resisted, but it was simply futile.  
"I'll.. never.. ugh- t-tell yo-u-u!" The android sputtered, sparks flying from his body. Shadow's grip around his neck only tightened.  
"I'll crush every artificial bone in your body and use your oil as a slide to give my skates an extra boost, if you don't spit it out now," Shadow warned. The android gulped, and with a sigh, he accepted that he had no other choice.  
"My master, Doctor Eggman sent me, he wanted me to slow you down.." explained the Android.  
"Slow us down? Why? We haven't even retrieved a single emerald, yet.." Shadow questioned.  
"So he could have time to do this," the Android smiled, pointing up at the sky.

Within moments, it had gone from a clear, beautiful blue to an eerie shade of grey and red. Lightning rippled through the clouds and with a horrific clap of thunder, struck Emerald Hill. The zone lit up in flames, forcing the critters in the area to flee for their lives. Screams filled the air in every direction, as the team gasped. Luigi caught sight of Eggman hovering away with a Chaos Emerald in his Eggmobile, and gestured for the others to follow. Tails pulled Sonic out of the boulder, and everyone chased Eggman, still shocked that Emerald Hill was burning.. just like that.

"FOOLS! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME! WITH THE POWER OF CHAOS IN MY GRASP, I CURSE YOU!" Eggman roared into his megaphone. He lifted the emerald with a dramatic movement, and swiftly swept the ground with a bolt of lightning, blocking the quintet's path.

"No path is too tough for us!" Sonic grinned, holding out his hands, "EVERYONE GRAB ON!"  
The team all latched onto one another, and Sonic released a powerful discharge of energy.

"HERE WE GO!" Sonic yelled. Surrounded by a blinding blue light, they blasted through the blockade ahead and caught right up to Eggman.

"Not so fast, pests!" Eggman revealed three laser cannons, and opened fire. Mario and Luigi pulled away from the group and used their hammers to deflect them. Shadow used his chaos energy to destroy the lasers before they made contact, and Tails used his ability of flight to lift Sonic above the lasers.

A giant bomb landed on the ground ahead, Shadow took the lead and leapt over the bomb, using a Chaos Spear to rebound it into a wall. Rubble flew in every direction - Mario and Luigi leapt onto the pieces, bouncing off of them and spinning together in mid-air to launch a powerful double attack. Eggman turned, gasping as the duo smashed into the Eggmobile, sending Eggman flying into the distance. A yellow Chaos Emerald hurtled down to the ground. Sonic made a break for it, boosting himself forward once again, but for once, he was too slow - another silhouette flew across the sky and snatched the Emerald in mid-air, landing on the ground in front of Sonic.

"What the hell?!" yelled Sonic, as he glared at the silhouette.  
"I'll be taking this..~" murmured the figure, barely audible to Sonic.  
"Hey, give that back! Finders keepers, man!" Sonic kicked dust from the ground as he tapped his foot impatiently.  
"Find it then...~" the figure chuckled, vanishing from thin air. At last, the rest of the team caught up to Sonic.

"Damn... almost had it..." Sonic grumbled under his breath.  
"What the hell was that?!" Shadow bellowed. Mario and Luigi looked at one another, Tails tried to see if his Miles Electric picked up any familiar heat signals from the creature - yet to no avail.  
"I have no idea.. but whatever it was, it's fast.. really fast, and quiet, too. When it spoke, it was almost like a mumble.. so weird," Sonic stared ahead.

Mario, Luigi, Sonic and Tails turned to pay a moment's respect to Emerald Hill, which was rapidly burning to the ground.. it was too late to stop it. Their moment of silence was quickly broken by Shadow's lack of patience and tolerance for time-wasting.

"Damn it, Sonic! You and Tails can mourn the symbol of your friendship later, we have a job to get to!" He shouted, and the team snapped out of their quiet phases, returning to their normal selves as they walked off into the distance; Shadow lead the way.

While the others talked, Sonic couldn't help but stare at the ground, analysing what had just happened. It was all going on so fast.. how did Eggman get a hold of that Emerald and know how to destroy an entire zone with its power? Who was that creature that snatched the Emerald, and how did it use Chaos Control with no lag time?

"And why..?" Sonic thought out loud. Mario stopped walking and turned to look back at him, he asked if Sonic was okay.  
"Yeah dude, I'm fine. Let's keep moving.." Sonic reassured Mario awkwardly. Mario sighed sympathetically, and with a nod, continued walking with the rest of the team.

Next stop: Station Square.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED.**_


	2. Emerl's Hunt

_**A/N:  
Heyoo! I'm back already! I hope you enjoyed the previous chapter - personally, I felt the ending was a little rushed, but I didn't want to ruin it by going into chapter two so early. This episode is not going to be so dialogue-heavy, as this is where the story really gets started. Enjoy!**_

* * *

 **~ EMERL'S HUNT ~**

Sonic, Shadow, Mario, Luigi and Tails stood at the summit of a mountain, watching over various zones surrounding them. Mario and Luigi could not help but gaze in awe at the gorgeous sunset ahead of them. Sonic sat down on the lush, green grass, and stretched loudly. Shadow stepped away from the group to think by himself, and Tails was busy trying to track the next emerald.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Sonic looked up at the Mario Bros. Mario nodded with intent, but Luigi was too enveloped in the sunset, memories and thoughts of the future came into his mind. What if he never got home? What if he never saw Daisy again?

Luigi clenched his fists, frustrated with himself for letting this happen. He huffed loudly, grabbing everyone's attention, and then stormed off.  
"Luigi, wait!" Sonic moved to follow him, but Mario put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, "Alright.. I'll give him some space.."

While the rest of the team continued their break, Luigi strolled down to Station Square, where the team was headed next. It wasn't a long walk, only about half an hour - but Luigi was tired, and already missed his friends, and his brother. Despite this, he continued walking through the city, hoping to catch sight of something interesting.

Low and behold, before ten minutes of exploring was up, a squeal rang in Luigi's ears. He froze, nervous for a moment, but his nerves were outweighed by determination - he followed the echo of the squeal down an alleyway, confused as to why nobody else took notice.

"Give me the bracelet!" exclaimed a familiar voice.  
"No, please! My daddy gave it to me!" cried the voice of a little girl. Luigi couldn't make out who was who, so he simply yelled to grab their attention. The first figure froze, staring back at Luigi, but the girl did not stop sobbing. It was muffled, her mouth was probably covered.  
"Hw-elp m-ee!" cried the girl. This was enough of a cue for Luigi to take charge of the situation, and he threw himself at the other figure, slamming into its side with as much force as he could possibly muster. The figure rolled backwards and slide across the ground, stopping before it hit the wall behind him.

Now that the figure was under a light, it was visibly some kind of cyborg, shaped like Sonic, but at the same time not. Luigi was confused for a moment, but did not hesitate.

The robot revealed two daggers from within its armour pockets, and lunged for Luigi. Luigi ducked and kicked out, sending the robot flying into a wall behind them. The little girl took this opportunity to thank Luigi and run away.

The robot was now furious, and blast itself out of the wall, supercharged by some sort of sound-breaking energy. Luigi drew his hammer and blocked incoming hits from the robot, and then smacked the hammer into it. The robot leapt into the air, swung over a bar connecting the two buildings, and attempted to stomp on Luigi. Luigi dodged this, however, with a swift roll, bouncing off of a little ramp and kicking a garbage bin into the robot, pinning it against a wall. The robot blasted the bin away, and immediately charged another attack. It shot out, forcing Luigi to back away, and the energy beam struck Luigi's arm, drawing a bit of blood. Luigi snarled and hurled his hammer. It landed on the ground right in front of the robot, who then laughed at Luigi's bad aim - but that wasn't the end of it.

The ground around the robot began to crack, and Luigi leapt over the robot, snatching the hammer and smashing the robot into the cracked ground, forcing it to drop through the earth into a sewer. Luigi followed suite, swinging from bar to bar until he landed on a walkway next to the sewer water. The robot dragged itself out of the water and blast Luigi with a repulsor, making a clean hit and slamming Luigi into a wall. Luigi collapsed and growled, but noticed something intriguing on the other side of the sewer. He took one look at the robot, and dove across the sewer to avoid another hit from a repulsor. He rolled and landed in front of a box which appeared to be a little television, with a symbol on it that looked like a water drop. Luigi mashed it with his hammer and hurled it at the robot. The box exploded upon impact, throwing the robot into a wall and fracturing it.

The robot stood up with haste, now charging all three of its repulsors at once, and Luigi frowned, worried that this attack would be difficult to dodge. At that moment, however, Luigi found himself engulfed in a strange bubble-like forcefield, and had a brilliant idea. He leapt into the air with a "YAHOO!" and began bouncing rapidly off of walls, rolling across the surface of the water and smashing into the robot, pushing it back into another wall. Moments later, Luigi flew backwards to the other side of the sewer, grinning at the robot's visible rage. The robot let out a malicious roar of fury, and discharged three energy beams at once. Luigi braced himself and attempted to block the attack with his hands across his face, but thanks to the bubble shield, it did little to no damage. Of course, the shield was shattered, but Luigi had enough time to leap out of the way, and the beams destroyed a wall blocking the exit from the sewer. Gallons of water flooded out, hitting the robot and knocking it into the sewer. The robot struggled but more and more filthy water came at it, causing its repulsors to overheat as it was dragged behind a row of bars. It screamed with horror as a familiar yellow gem floated away from him, hovering onto a clean surface - it appeared unscathed. Luigi tilted his head, catching sight of it, and hopped across the water stream to grab it, and then he made his way outside the sewer, climbing through a vent and finding himself back in the middle of Station Square. It was night now, and it was hard to see anything other than the areas covered by street-lights. Luigi glanced at the Chaos Emerald in his hand, and shoved it in his pocket. He brushed himself down and walked towards the direction he had initially come from. Before he had got much further, he bumped into his team, who all looked deeply concerned about Luigi.

"Luigi! Are you okay?! We lost contact with you, like you went off the radar!" Sonic asked, clearly concerned about him. Luigi began explaining how he had encountered a strange robot in an alleyway, and fought it off. He described how he won the battle, and revealed that he had in-fact retrieved the stolen Chaos Emerald.

"Whoa, awesome work Luigi! That saves us a lot of trouble!" Tails' eyes shone.

"So, who was this robot guy you fought? Can you describe it to us?" Sonic tilted his head. Luigi nodded and gave Sonic all the details he noticed. Golden armour, stripes of blue, appeared to have a similar body image to a hedgehog.. etc. Sonic, Tails and Shadow looked at one another, now they appeared concerned.

"Sounds like Emerl," Shadow grunted. Sonic and Tails nodded, and turned to Mario and Luigi.

"Emerl is an.. old friend," Sonic sighed, "We met him during an adventure when we were much younger.. he was one of Eggman's discarded robots. We reprogrammed him.. treated him like a friend, but his memory was wiped a second time, and he was rebuilt into a weapon of Mass Destruction. We thought we defeated him.. but obviously not."

Mario and Luigi frowned, this was giving them deja vu.. for some reason.

"So Emerl stole the emerald huh? Looks like we have more problems than we anticipated. We should keep moving, there's no time to lose," Tails frowned. The rest of the team nodded and they continued on their journey to find the next emerald.

* * *

Eggman hovered over the roof of his base, a devious grin crawling onto his face. He flew down so that he could get out of his Eggmobile, and approached a hooded figure, facing his direction..

"Is it secured?" Eggman asked.  
"All systems are functioning correctly, hardly any damage sustained," responded the hooded figure. It appeared to have a dark, quiet voice.  
"Perfect, it recorded the green man's battle style, this will only improve the quality of our research!" chortled Eggman.  
"The rodents are headed for Mazuri, along with the 'Super Mario Brothers,' shall I send our fleet to meet them there?" questioned the hooded figure.  
"No, the last time Sonic and I met in Mazuri, I was humiliated in front of a group of rebellious imbeciles. This time, we will need a much more simple approach."  
"Release the dragon?" the Hooded Figure stepped closer.  
Eggman looked up at the sky, his lips curling once more, "Release the dragon."

* * *

It wasn't long before our heroes arrived in Mazuri, overjoyed to feel fresh air massaging them in every direction. The environment here was so peaceful, so basic, so dream-like.

"I've always enjoyed visiting this place on holidays, it's a shame we don't have the time to visit a famous landmark here," Tails smiled, greeting some familiar villagers.  
"You said it yourself, Tails, we haven't got time, so let's get moving," Shadow frowned. Sonic, who was ahead of them, rolled his eyes and twisted his head to look back at Shadow.  
"Aw, c'mon Shadow, the emerald could be anywhere! Who's to say that we won't find it at a famous chili dog restaurant?" he smirked.

Shadow simply ignored him.

Mario turned to Tails and asked him something which nobody else heard. Tails simply laughed and nodded. Luigi, walking behind the others, let out a loud sigh. Mario looked at him, concerned. Luigi simply shrugged.

"Sonic!" called the village elder.  
"Heyo!" replied Sonic. He dashed over to shake his hand.  
"How wonderful it is to see you again, my dear boy! It's been years.." the village elder beamed.  
"Yeah, it has. I'm glad to be back here!" Sonic chuckled.  
"Did you defeat that awful creature of darkness?" the elder scowled.  
"Yes, that was a long time ago, haha," Sonic quickly answered, "Listen, my friends and I are here to search for a Chaos Emerald, we believe there may be one nearby. Have you seen any Emeralds here lately?"  
"No, I'm afraid not, and who are your friends here?" the elder glanced behind Sonic.  
Sonic turned around, "That's Shadow," Shadow huffed, "You know Tails," Tails waved happily, "and those are Mario and Luigi, they're the heroes of an alternate dimension!"

The elder nodded, intrigued by the plumber brothers. Nevertheless, he turned around and stuck his head inside of his shack.  
"Sonic, my boy, you came with just the right timing. I have something special for you to assist you on your journey!" the elder exclaimed, reaching over to a desk close to the entrance. He revealed a mysterious wooden cube, with encrypted symbols covering each and every side, it was about the same size as Sonic's palm.

"Use it when things are looking bleak, it will give you abilities beyond what our minds can fathom," the elder grinned. Sonic nodded slowly and thanked the elder, turning to leave.

Then he paused.

"What's the matter, Sonic?" the elder stared.  
"Something's wrong," Sonic muttered - his M.A.G.N.E.T. tripod was glowing red, flashing faster and faster. For a split second, everything was silent, Sonic inhaled, taking in his surroundings, shutting his eyes..

"LOOK OUT!"

Sonic grabbed the elder and hurled himself away from the shack, moments later, a missile crashed into its side and it was immediately lit up in flames. Villagers screamed and flailed their arms, running all over the place in panic. More and more missiles continuously hit the village, the elder stared up in the direction they were coming from in horror. Sonic followed his gaze, and caught sight of three familiar robots flying amongst the trees. Shadow, Tails, Mario and Luigi ran over, ready for anything.

"Eggman's minions, let's move!" Sonic yelled, and the others followed him into the forest.

* * *

"Up there, in that big tree north-west from here!" Tails shouted, and everyone grabbed onto Sonic again. They lit up in a bright blue light and burst through the forest, headed for the great tree as fast as sound itself. Missiles crashed to the ground in every direction - Sonic blasted his way through a shower of bullets, and leapt into the air, his sneakers crashing into a repulsor, belonging to one of the three robots.

"They're clones of Emerl!" Shadow yelled, hurling Sonic a box, shaped like a strange, tiny television. Sonic shattered the box in his grip, and his body was enveloped in a coat of flames. He leapt into the air and shot forward, smashing into one of the Emerl-bots and sending it hurtling into the tree behind it.

"Mario, look out!" Sonic spun on his heel to warn Mario. Another Emerl-bot hurled itself at Mario, but Mario hopped over it, back-flipped and crashed his feet down on the bot, crushing it into the ground.

"Whoa, nice!" Tails stuck up his thumb, firing a laser from his arm cannon. The laser made contact with a missile and exploded in mid-air, creating a cloud of fire and smoke around them. The third Emerl-bot grabbed Luigi from behind and flung him into a tree, Luigi screamed as he smacked against it head-first, and slid to the ground. The Emerl-bot mashed a box similar to the one Luigi found earlier, and was covered in a bubble shield.

 **"INITIATING MIMIC TECHNIQUE,"** stated the bot, and it began bouncing from tree to tree, slamming into Mario and knocking him backwards. Sonic shot through the air, making contact with the bot in mid-air, the contact caused a loud explosion which spread flames and water in every direction. Shadow took the opportunity to speedily skate up the great tree and do a pike at the top of the trunk, he revealed that he had taken the yellow Emerald and released a powerful chaos spear, slicing straight through one of the bots, which caused it to implode on the spot. Metallic compartments flew everywhere, Mario used this to give himself a boost, swinging his hammer into another Emerl-bot and whacking it through a tree. Sonic and the third Emerl-bot had now locked fists, and were holding their ground with everything they had. The second Emerl-bot fired a missile in Luigi's direction, but Luigi was prepared for that, He swung his foot with all of his might, and managed to chip the corner of the missile, panning it in another direction. It blew up on a tree, causing to collapse and land on the Emerl-bot, crushing it.

Sonic slammed his foot into the final Emerl-bot, knocking it away, but the Emerl-bot grabbed Sonic's arm and swung him into a tree. Sonic's shield faded, as did the robots, and the two of them took a moment to recover. After that moment was up, Sonic dashed into the robot and whacked his elbow into its core repulsor, tearing up the ground as it slid away. As the robot rolled, it released an energy beam from all of its repulsors at once, forcing the great tree to shudder. Sonic was hit by the energy beam and was smashed through the tree.

"SONIC!" Tails cried out. He growled in fury and shot one final laser ball, which the Emerl-bot reacted to with another repulsor beam from its hand, the collision shook the earth, but within the smoke, Mario had just enough time to wrap the robot around into a headlock.

The robot shuddered as Luigi walked over, and tore off its head with his hammer. Out of the broken circuits, a grey Chaos Emerald rolled to the ground. Mario dropped the robot and picked up the Emerald, confused.

"Wait.. if the emerald's here, then why were they here searching like us?" Tails frowned, analysing the emerald.  
"Because that isn't _the_ grey emerald, it's a fake," Shadow sighed, walking over. Luigi followed suit.  
"It's not real?" Tails looked at the emerald, irritated.  
"No, it is artificial, probably created by Eggman to supercharge his mechs," Shadow shook his head.

A rustle came from the tree behind them, "Uh, guys.. little help?"

Mario and Luigi walked over to the tree and pulled Sonic by his feet, plucking him out of the tree he was stuck inside.  
"Agh, jeez, that hurt..." groaned Sonic. Shadow glanced at a glowing light behind him, and gasped.

"The emerald!" Shadow exclaimed, diving into the hole in the tree and snatching the _real_ grey Chaos Emerald.  
"Nice job! Man.. must've been worth feeling my skull get pummeled, then," Sonic chuckled awkwardly, holding his head in pain. Tails patted his arm, snickering.

The team gathered around the emerald to make sure it was real, and then they agreed that Sonic could hold onto it, since he found it. With this rule now in place, Shadow hesitantly agreed to return the yellow emerald to Luigi, who was more than overjoyed to have the responsibility of holding onto it.

After a few more minutes of helping patch up Sonic's head wound, the quintet made their way back to the village, where they apologised to the villagers for the catastrophic earlier events, and helped clear up the mess that the robots had made.

Once they were done, Sonic led the team to their next destination.  
"Where are we off to next, Sonic?" Tails asked.  
"The M.A.G.N.E.T. tripod is picking up strong energy frequencies from somewhere south-east of here, I reckon we should check it out," Sonic responded, and the rest of the team nodded.

* * *

Eggman's fist came crashing down onto his desk like a vicious thunderbolt, "CURSE SONIC! CURSE THAT RODENT HEDGEHOG, CURSE THE LOT OF THEM!"  
Papers flew everywhere, ornaments crashed against walls, the usual.  
"When you're done throwing a temper tantrum, I have delightful news," came the voice of the hooded figure. Eggman froze and turned to face the figure with interest.

"While Sonic and his allies did successfully take out all three of our hunter bots, our salvage bots did discover a leftover contraption from an Emerl clone crushed under a tree. This contraption could be.. of a particular significance, in the distant future.." the hooded figure explained.  
"Oh?" Eggman replied, now his full attention was focused on the figure, who then held up a data chip, with a built-in camera. Eggman's face of confusion slowly crept into one of pure evil joy. He began to chuckle, and that chuckle became a laugh, and then it transformed into hysterics. The hooded figure could not help but join in in the quiet laughing, as he placed the chip carefully down on Eggman's toppled desk.

Once Eggman was finally done laughing like a maniac, he grinned at the chip and spoke in a low voice, "This is only the beginning of the end... that pesky hedgehog's time... is almost up."

And the laughter recommenced.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED.**_


	3. Mark V

_**A/N:  
That's right, we're back already. I hyped myself up so much for the last chapter that I couldn't help but dive straight into the third. Last chapter my main focus was to show that the action is only just getting started, furthermore I wanted Luigi to have a special moment. The reason for this will be revealed later down the line. Anyway, before we continue I should probably warn you that this story DOES CONTAIN RELATIONSHIPS. Since I'm used to writing romantic stories, it's kind-of a habit. I put a lot of thought into the chosen ships for this story, and I think I've come out with a solid batch. Please. Don't. Hate. This. Story. Just. Because. You. Hate. The. SHIPS. The romance in this story is very subtle for the majority of the plot-line, it's just an extra for the sake of those who enjoy a bit of romance here and there. Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

 **~ MARK V ~**

"Ugh.. how much longer?" Tails groaned, tired of walking up countless steep hills and through boring old zones.  
"The tripod is picking up a really strong frequency nearby, guys!" exclaimed Sonic, as if on cue, "It's at Hang Castle..?"  
"Oh G-God.. that place.." Tails shuddered, remembering his last experience there.  
"Hey, what about Angel Island?" Shadow asked.  
"The energy in Hang Castle is stronger, I'm sure Angel Island can wait, right?" Sonic turned to his friends behind him. Mario and Luigi glanced at one another and shrugged, Shadow simply grunted and Tails scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Sonic said, spinning on his heel, "Just try to keep up, HERE WE GO!" And he was off in a flash of light. Mario chuckled to himself and broke into a run immediately. Luigi and Tails followed suit - Shadow, on the other hand, was not bothered, and continued walking at his own pace.

* * *

 **Crackle. Clang. Buzz.**

* * *

It had only been another hour before the quintet stood at the foot of the towering gates of Hang Castle. Tails gulped, Shadow rolled his eyes, Luigi hid behind Mario, who just stared up, and Sonic grinned.

"Lighten up guys! This is gonna be interesting!" Sonic reassured them, and rolled himself into a ball shape, charging his spin-dash attack. The gates of Hang Castle were no match for his strength, and they collapsed before him. He chuckled, walking over them, and the rest of the team followed.

* * *

 **Screech. Clink. BANG.**

* * *

The interior of the castle was exactly as Mario and Luigi envisioned it - dull, abandoned, decayed, worthless, ancient. Sonic familiarised himself with every nook and cranny of the castle, and followed the tripod's sensor directions. It wasn't long before they had reached.. an empty room? Sonic looked around, confused and frustrated. He had never been here before.

"Luigi, Tails, check this room for secrets, there could be a crack, a dent, a hidden passage, anything. Mario, come with me, we're going to check the surrounding area. Shadow, check the basement, it's directly beneath here," Sonic ordered.  
"I don't obey what you tell me, Sonic," Shadow snarled. Everyone paused and stared at him.  
There was a moment of silence and then Shadow straightened, breaking the silence with, "I'll check the basement."

* * *

"Hey, Luigi?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Do you ever feel like you're treated as the second best?"  
"Wah?"  
"Like, you're living in your brother's shadow.. like a spare part, a player two.."

Luigi turned to Tails and nodded slowly.

"Me too.. people always talk to me like Sonic's little sidekick, as if I have no personality of my own.. I just want to prove myself, to everyone, that I can be independent, that I can be whoever I wanna be, not who I'm told I have to be.." Tails sighed. Luigi's eyes lit up, as if he had finally found someone who understood him. He walked over to Tails and smothered him in hugs.

"Aw, haha! You're such a nice guy, Luigi!" Tails beamed, "I'm glad we met you and Mario, you've been the most enjoyable company I've ever had since Cream.."

Luigi pulled out of the hug and looked at Tails with a raised eyebrow.  
"Ah, hehe.. Cream, well.. she's.. the best, she's been my best friend since we were little. She's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet, like.." Tails sighed, leaning against a wall, "I love her.. so much." Moments later, he slipped and pushed against a dent in a wall. Tails yelped as the wall behind him began to fold in on itself, Tails jumped away to stand next to Luigi as a pitch-black passage opened up. They looked at one another and shrugged, diving in and finding themselves zooming down a slide. Where to, however, they did not know.

* * *

"Wait," Sonic paused, and Mario came to a halt behind him. They were standing in the middle of an open stairway, "The energy frequency is hyper-reactive here."  
Mario thought for a moment, and then pointed up at a hole in the wall in front of them, quite higher up.  
Sonic turned to Mario, chuckling, "Mario, buddy, d'ya think you could give me a boost up there?"  
Mario nodded happily and pulled out his trusty hammer. Sonic began charging another spin-dash attack, and Mario launched him into the air with his hammer. Sonic smashed through the hole in the wall and fell down the other side.  
"Whoaaa!" He yelled. Mario jumped in after him to make sure he was okay. They found themselves riding some sort of indoor slide. Where to, however, they did not know.

* * *

Shadow scanned the basement for any signs of danger, yet nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He scavenged each and every item in the basement at least four times, growing more frustrated with every item he picked up.

"This is hopeless, why do I even bother with those idiots?" Shadow frowned, and then a thought came into his head, "Well, I don't really have much of a choice.. otherwise _she_ would squish my face with that stupid hammer of hers.."

* * *

Luigi and Tails came to a stop at the bottom of the slide, landing in what appeared to be a blocked-off extension of the basement. They brushed themselves off and looked around, confused. Not long after, Mario and Sonic arrived in the same location, coming from an adjacent slide to Luigi and Tails' slide.

"Hey, guys! What are you doing here?" Sonic tilted his head.  
"We could ask you the same thing," Tails frowned, confused.  
"So what is this, some kinda second basement?" Sonic looked around.  
"Looks like it," Tails responded.

 **Rustle. Creak. CRASH.**

Luigi squealed and rushed behind Mario's back.  
"What was that?!" Sonic looked around, alarmed.

 **Rattle. Crack. SMASH.**

"I-Is it a g-g-g-g-ghost..?" Tails shivered, shuffling closer to Sonic. Sonic shook his head in disbelief.  
"No.. the energy frequency is stronger than ever, it's coming from whatever's under that pile!" He pointed at a pile of rubble and scrap pieces. Luigi shrieked, catching sight of something moving inside..

A metallic fist slammed its way out of the scrap heap.

"MAMA-MIA!" Mario yelped, jumping back. Luigi screamed and fled to the furthest corner. The metallic fist latched onto a jammed pipe next to it, and began pulling its way out of the heap - more and more body parts joined it, until...

"What the-.." Sonic squinted, "Oh my God.. it's-"

Mecha Sonic rose from the scrap heap, battered and broken, its body was torn and appeared to have been decaying for years. Tails drew his arm cannon and snarled, Sonic stepped forward, clenching his fists.

" **H-H-HELP... ME...** " the robot sputtered. Mario stared in confusion, while Luigi remained cowered in a corner.

At that moment, Tails noticed something on Mecha Sonic's armour.  
"Mark V..?" Tails gazed with interest, "Wait, but that must mean-"  
"Mecha, what are you doing here? What the hell is going on?" Sonic disrupted Tails' thoughts.

Mecha's eyepiece flashed, and a distorted sound came from within it, followed by Eggman's muffled voice.  
"USELESS!" the voice yelled, followed by a swift kick.  
"PATHETIC!"  
"LITTLE HEAP OF SCRAP!" Followed by several sounds that seemed to the tetrad to be the sounds of beating Mecha Sonic with various equipment.

" **FA-IL-ED... MI-SS-ION...** " Mecha grumbled, now lifting its head to face the group in front of him.

"Failed mission..?" Tails repeated.

" **DES-TROY... S-O-N-I-C...** "

Mario lifted his hammer once more, prepared for what was imminent now. Sonic pressed his weak foot into the floor behind him, Tails re-drew his arm cannon, and Luigi jumped over from his corner, irritated. Mecha Sonic wasted no time in thrusting out of the scrap heap, hurling filthy pieces of wreckage in every direction. He fired a missile in Sonic's direction, which Sonic deflected with ease. The missile exploded on the ceiling above them, causing it to crack. The castle shook upon the impact, and so the battle began.

* * *

Shadow turned around.  
"The hell was that?" He growled, facing where he came from.  
And then he turned to the wall behind him.  
"Huh, must've been a little earthquake."

* * *

Mario bounced off of Luigi's hammer, smacking his boots against Mecha Sonic's eyepiece. Mecha stumbled but fired a row of bullets at Tails, who incinerated every last one on the spot with his lasers. Sonic leapt into the air and slammed his arm into Mecha's side, sending it hurtling back. Mecha responded to this by blasting itself off of the ground, smashing itself into Luigi and crashing him into a wall. Mecha bounced back, only to make contact with Mario's hammer, shattering one of Mecha's hands into pieces. A missile from within its own arm cannon shot at Tails, but Tails rebounded it with his lasers, the explosion, once again, shook the castle - Mecha merely slid back, but Tails was flung into the wall behind him and remained there.

" **I'LL... CR-USH... Y-OU!** " Mecha roared, firing bullets in Sonic's direction, which Sonic dodged with his incredible speed. Sonic whacked Mecha with his elbow, and then Mario smashed Mecha's back with his hammer. Mecha collapsed, but still did not yield.

" **GI-VE.. U-P.. YO-UR.. RESI-ST-ANCE.. IS.. FU-T-I-LE!** " Mecha bellowed, releasing a discharge of powerful energy he had absorbed from each hit. Even while severely damaged, Mecha successfully smashed Mario and Sonic into the walls on either side of Mecha Sonic. Without hesitation, Mecha flew over to Sonic, and opened its bullet launcher in front of him. Sonic stared up at Mecha in exhaustion, and in too much pain to move.

At that moment, Sonic's life flashed before his eyes. Mecha opened the launcher, and a thousand bullets remained still in front of Sonic's face.

The last words Sonic heard were, "CHAOS BLAST!"

And then everything went black.

* * *

"Will he be okay?"  
"I still don't get how Mecha managed to beat Sonic so easily, even when he was so badly damaged!"  
"Shut it, Charmy, that's not helpful,"  
"Where's Shadow?"  
"What about those plumber guys?"  
"SONIC!"

Sonic's eyes fluttered open, light flooded his vision and his head slowly panned to observe his surroundings. There were three.. four.. no, six people surrounding him while he lay in an unfamiliar bed.

"Sonic, we're so glad you're okay!" Amy exclaimed.  
"Yeah, you were hurt really bad!" Vector added.  
"How did you survive, dude? Tell us EVERYTHING!" Charmy squealed.  
"Oh, Sonic..!" Sally smiled, tears in her eyes as she enveloped Sonic in a loving hug.  
"Thank God he's okay," Knuckles remarked.  
"It's a miracle that Shadow managed to save him in just a nick of time, another split-second and there would be no Sonic left to save," Espio murmured, his arms folded.

"Shadow.. Mario, Luigi, TAILS!" Sonic sat up rapidly, looking around him in a state of panic, "WHERE'S TAILS?! IS HE OKAY?!"  
"Sonic, SONIC!" Sally shouted, grabbing Sonic's hand gently, "It's okay.. they're all here, recovering, just like you.." Sonic turned to her, confused.  
"Where... am I? What... happened...?" Sonic asked, struggling to get the words out due to an agonising feeling in his torso.  
The six people around him all looked at one another. Amy went to answer, but was interrupted by a deep voice behind her, "Lucky for you, _I_ happened."

Everyone who stood there turned to see Shadow leaning against the doorway, Sonic looked at him over Espio's shoulder.  
"Shadow! You... saved us?" Sonic questioned, in surprise.  
"Yes, you're welcome by the way," Shadow rolled his eyes.  
"Thanks- but, wait, how? You weren't even with us!" Sonic frowned.

Shadow sighed, and began reciting the events of the prior night.

* * *

Shadow spun on his heel, confused as to what was making so much noise.  
"What the hell? Did Sonic get into a fight or something again?" Shadow asked himself. He stepped towards the wall in front of him and pressed his ear against it..  
" **GI-VE.. U-P.. YO-UR.. RESI-ST-ANCE.. IS.. FU-T-I-LE!** " was all he heard.

Shadow jumped back in alarm. He knew that voice, and he knew it was dangerous. He revealed the green Emerald he had borrowed from Sonic, and held it in front of him.

"Hmph, maybe this won't be so boring after all," he smirked as the emerald lit up with a bright powerful light.  
"CHAOS.. BLAST!" Shadow roared, and the wall was disintegrated, an explosion clouded the room in front of him, but he could still make out the outlines of four unconscious figures and one large figure holding a bullet launcher to another figure's face. He dove forward, grabbing Mecha Sonic and whirling him across the basement, crashing it into a wall. Mecha Sonic wasted no time in dragging itself out of the wall and opening fire of Shadow. Shadow used the emerald to deflect the bullets, but as soon as a single bullet did damage, a wave of invincible energy washed over Mecha Sonic, paralysing him into a confined state. Shadow rushed forward and slammed his foot into the robot over and over again, before jumping back to dodge Mecha's next attack.

" **FO-OL!** " the robot cried, firing multiple missiles in Shadow's direction. Shadow deflected every single one into the ceiling above them, causing it to collapse on Mecha Sonic. Mecha blasted out of the ceiling and fired a beam of electricity. Shadow piked over the beam and shot a Chaos Spear straight into Mecha's leg, causing it to lose balance, having only one arm and leg. Mecha's boot reshaped itself into a rocket and shot Mecha right into Shadow, knocking Shadow back towards the others, but Shadow rushed forward again, charging another blast. At the same time, Mecha released a powerful shot of pure energy that he had been building up for a long time, and Shadow released a beam of energy, supercharged by the Chaos Emerald. The two blasts collided at midpoint and sent both opponents hurtling back into parallel walls. Mecha's remaining arm and leg were shattered upon impact.

And then, Shadow was in front of Mecha again, staring down at the disassembled monstrosity of a robot.

"Looks like this really isn't your day, huh?" Shadow said. Mecha let out one last roar of might, and then voltage was released from its body. Shadow snarled and ran back to the others. He gathered them all up and teleported outside Hang Castle, making a run for it as the entire building exploded. Flames and rubble flew in every direction, but Shadow kept on running, back to the Chaotix Agency base, still holding onto the unconscious team behind him.

* * *

"And the rest is history," sighed Shadow.  
"I still wanna know how Mecha managed to beat Sonic, Tails AND the Mario Brothers!" Charmy yelled intrusively.  
"CHARMY!" The group around him shouted.  
"Mecha got lucky," Sonic pouted.  
"Quit sulking, you're fine now, let's go check up on the others," Shadow grunted. Sonic sighed and Sally helped him out of bed. He limped over to Shadow and followed him to the next room along. Tails lay in bed, napping, with Cream sitting beside him, rubbing his hand. Mario and Luigi were on the other side of the room, experimenting with a punching bag.

Cream turned and waved happily at Sonic. Sonic waved back, pleased to see yet another of his close friends, but then Cream gestured for him to be quiet and pointed at Tails. Sonic nodded understandingly and walked over to the Mario Bros.

"Good to see you guys are okay," Sonic whispered. Mario and Luigi stopped what they were doing and turned to him, nodding in agreement.

* * *

As it turns out, Sonic could eat a plate of chili dogs almost as fast as he could run. Mario and Luigi gazed in awe at Sonic's eating speed, and they had barely begun eating their spaghetti. Shadow refused to eat dinner, and everyone else had burgers and chips.

"So Mario, you say you come from the 'Mushroom Kingdom,' right?" Amy looked at Mario with interest.  
"Sounds like a wonderful place! And you say your girlfriend is the PRINCESS?" Sally couldn't help but laugh at how fantastical Mario's story sounded. Luigi tried to say that he was also dating a princess, but the food in his mouth said otherwise.

"Hey, we could visit there some time!" Vector laughed, Charmy took this a little too seriously and began flying around, overwhelmed with excitement.  
"Sounds like fun, now can we focus on the issues at hand right now?" Knuckles moaned.  
"Right, yes, sorry.." Amy sat back.

"Angel Island is currently empty, after receiving reports from our spies that Eggman is launching a sneak attack on the Island, I took it upon myself to evacuate everyone there. I almost managed to take the Master Emerald with me, but I was unsuccessful," Knuckles explained, "But Sonic and Tails tell me that's where they are headed next? As far as I've been informed, there are no other emeralds on Angel Island at this current point in time, and if there are, Eggman won't get very far. Those things are virtually indestructible."

"Looks like we'll have to figure out a way to get to Angel Island and find the source of that energy before Eggman successfully launches his attack," Sonic added.  
"Tails, you okay there?" Espio glanced at Tails, who was staring at his meal in complete silence.  
"That symbol on Mecha Sonic's chestplate... Mark V..." Tails mumbled, and the rest of the table fell silent, listening to him talking to himself, "Eggman's secret weapon is supposedly Mark VI... THAT'S IT!" Tails leapt up, startling everyone around him.

"MARK VI IS AN UPGRADE OF MECHA SONIC, THE MOST POWERFUL YET! THAT'S EGGMAN'S SECRET WEAPON, IT'S ANOTHER METALLIC WAR MACHINE!" Tails explained as loud as he possibly could.  
Sonic jumped up encouragingly, "Awesome thinking Tails, that'll help us prepare with no problem!"  
"Yeah, well done Tails!" Cream cheered.  
"Hehe, thanks.." Tails couldn't help but blush.

* * *

The front door whipped open, rain splashing down outside, a tall man stood there, panting, looking around at the group of people staring at him.  
"Huh?" Sonic turned.  
"Sonic the Hedgehog - I don't know if you'll remember me, but my name is Fang the Sniper, I come with news," the man spoke massively.  
"Aren't you one of the bad guys?" Knuckles clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.  
"I would be if that idiot 'Eggman' didn't ruin my plan to sell a Chaos Emerald to the highest bidder," Fang snarled.

Before anyone had an opportunity to respond, Shadow blasted past everyone and grabbed Fang by his coat collar.  
"You were holding onto a Chaos Emerald?" Shadow questioned intimidatingly.

Fang nodded slowly in reply.  
"Where is it now?" Shadow snarled.  
"I don't know, but the robot that attacked me mentioned something about being headed for Angel Island," replied Fang. Shadow dropped him with a growl.  
"I should have known there was a connection," Shadow shook his head disapprovingly.  
"Relax Shadow, I'll go get the-" Sonic began, standing up quickly, but a searing pain in his ribs forced him down again with a light screech, "Dammit!"  
Sally put her hands on Sonic's shoulders, "Sonic, relax! You're still injured after your battle with Mecha Sonic, just take this one off.. okay?"  
"But then who will go save the Master Emerald and retrieve the Chaos Emerald from Eggman?" Sonic whimpered.

He looked around the room, everyone seemed pretty reluctant, all of a sudden, but Mario stepped forward, pointing at himself.  
"Mario? But.. you don't even know what Angel Island is..." Sonic frowned. Mario shook his head and stepped forward again, dragging a reluctant Luigi with him. Luigi, as usual, appeared terrified.  
"Fine.. but be careful, this could be not like anything you've ever dealt with before," Sonic warned.  
"Nothing's too difficult for the Super Mario Brothers!" Tails' face lit up, patting Luigi on the back encouragingly. Mario turned to Fang and nodded.  
"I'll take you to the airport, but that's as far as I'm willing to go," Fang rolled his eyes, leading Mario out. Luigi followed, whining.

* * *

Mario hadn't flown a plane in years, but he still remembered all of his old tips and tricks. He was headed straight for Angel Island. The rain had thankfully stopped and the sky was bright blue and sunny. Luigi was still uncomfortable with the mission, but he did not cause any more trouble. Mario glanced over his shoulder and asked Luigi if he was okay. Luigi simply shrugged and pulled out a bag he'd been holding onto since the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario looked at it with interest, and Luigi revealed three items inside: A fire flower, a cape feather and a 1-UP mushroom. Mario smiled at Luigi and turned back to face where he was flying, bracing himself for a safe landing.

Needless to say, Mario had no issue parking on the beach, but he was a little confused as to how beaches worked on a floating island. Without asking any more questions, he and Luigi departed from the plane and made their way straight for the Sky Sanctuary.

On their way there, they caught sight of an Eggrobo headed to the forest. Mario sighed with aggravation and followed the Eggrobo out of curiosity. The Eggrobo lead Mario and Luigi to some sort of mini hill, where the Eggrobo blasted the ground beneath it and a square plate of ground opened up. The robot flew down, and the plate slammed shut. Luigi was horrified, Mario was confused - nonetheless, he approached the plate and stomped on it as hard as he could, yet nobody responded. He leapt into the air and ground-pounded it as hard as he could, and the plate shook. Mario gestured for Luigi to come over, and the two of them ground-pounded the plate one last time, causing it to shatter and allowing them to fall through.

Luigi screamed on the way down, and mere seconds later he found himself stuck beneath Mario in some kind of Hidden Palace zone. Mario stood to help Luigi up and the brothers brushed themselves down, looking for signs of danger anywhere.

In the distance, the echo of an unfamiliar voice was almost audible.  
"Ahaha, yes... this is PERFECT! With those horrid creatures out of my way, the Master Emerald is mine for the taking!" the voice roared with laughter. Mario gasped and made his way through a string of platforms, following the sound of the voice to a huge hallway; at the end of the hallway was a bright green light, which Mario was headed for, Luigi following close behind. They arrived in the so-called home of the Emeralds, and caught sight of Eggman reaching for the Master Emerald with a claw at the bottom of his Eggmobile. Mario wasted no time leaping into the air and bouncing off of the Emerald stands straight towards Eggman, crashing his boots into the claw and shattering it on the spot. Eggman spun away from the Emerald and shook with rage as he watched Mario land on the floor with ease.

"YOU AGAIN! Grrr.. this time you won't escape. ROBOTS, ATTACK!" Eggman screamed, and a swarm of Eggrobos hurled themselves at Mario.

Mario was ready for this, drawing his hammer, he smacked a couple of Eggrobos away, sending them spinning until they exploded in the distance. He then leapt into the air and slammed his leg into another Eggrobo, crashing it into three others behind it. More and more eggrobos flung themselves at Mario, but he simply parried all of them away. Eggman shot a missile from his Eggmobile, but Mario managed to block the explosion, only sliding back a little.

All of the eggrobos now lay in scraps of debris and broken parts around them. Mario looked up at Eggman, panting and grinning. He pointed his finger and curled it, as if to say, 'Bring it!'

Eggman's face coiled into a malevolent smile.

"MARIO!" Luigi screamed. Mario looked at Luigi, and turned around, with no time to react before a metallic fist cracked against his jaw, sending him flying into a wall with the force of a whale body-slamming something.

Mario fell to the ground, landing on one knee, and one eye shut. Luigi stared in absolute shock as a figure approached Mario, but Luigi couldn't make out its appearance from so far away.

" _Mark VI_ , destroy the pest," Eggman slammed his fist down on his Eggmobile control panel. _Mark VI_ lifted its right arm, charging a red energy beam of immense power. Mario looked up at the robot, in too much pain to move. The beam hit Mario right in his center, and shot him through the wall behind him, leaving him stuck there. The explosion created a cloud of dust and gemstones, making it hard for Luigi or Eggman to see.

"MARIO!" Luigi cried out again, but this time, there was no response. Then the dust cleared.

 _Mark VI_ was walking towards Luigi.

It smiled.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED.**_


End file.
